The Pearl is a novel by John Steinbeck. It is about a poor Indian family made up of Kino, his wife Juana, and their son Coyotito. This family gets by on the money they make from pearl diving. One day while pearl diving, Kino finds the “pearl of the world”. It is about the size of a seagull egg. They are sure that it will bring them out of poverty and give them things they never dreamed of having before. Along with the hope brought by the pearl also comes fear of others stealing the pearl and tricking them out of their money. Later they began to believe that the pearl was the source of evil and caused the family much of their trouble. Various people plan ways to get money from Kino and try to trick him out of his money. After realizing all these new dreams, they are upset when the pearl collectors offer them a low price for the pearl. He believes that they too are trying to cheat him out of his money and does not accept the offer. A series of terrible events began after they found the pearl including a murder, a destroyed boat, and a burned house. All of these events lead to the family running away from town. When they realize they are being tracked they ran far ahead and turned on them in the night. When they return to town they return with broken spirits and a dead son.
Overall, I did not enjoy this novel mainly because I did not find it interesting and thought it was quite depressing. Throughout the book it shows how much they cared for their son, Coyotito and wanted the best for him including good medical care and an education. I did not like that their son was shot. I typically don’t enjoy reading stories that describe in detail the downfall of a person or a group of people. I found it hard to believe that something the size of a sea gull egg could single handedly destroy the lives of this family. Although I did not like the way that Kino struck Juana when she did not obey him, they had a very good and understanding relationship. She understood why he hit her and knew how much she loved and needed him. Even thought this wasn’t the book for me, you might enjoy this book better than I did. You might like this book if you like stories about finding treasures or people being chased.
As I read I had a few questions about The Pearl. Who shot Coyotito? Why did they decide to throw the pearl in the river and not accept the little money the pearl collectors offered? Was it the doctor that snuck into his house the first night to try to steal the pearl? Who was the person Kino murdered the night they decided to run away?
If you decided to read this novel, I hope you enjoy it. If you have already read this book, I would love to hear your opinions of it.
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Hah! That was a "good" story--rather brutish and violent, but interesting after two years of aimless pondering. Irony is probably the most interesting thing--funny how a pearl that guaranteed medical treatment for Coyotito actually killed him.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind being offended, I say that Steinbeck did not intend adventure of treasure and chases, but rather some odd psychological study or a summary for society. A funny orb no larger than a fist actually manipulated Kino, the doctor, and pearl collectors. Greed causes only trouble--greedy persons who want more only get less. See, Kino wanted so much out of the pearl, but actually he embarrassed himself, attacked Juana, made some enemies, left his home, nearly died, killed, lost a son, and hoped hard (only so the hope snatches all away). That's the fearful irony.
Kino killed one of the collectors who followed him, if Memory is true. Before he attacked, Coyotito makes a sound, the collector thought that was coyote (See, Coyotito sounds like Coyote, no?), shoots, and then is killed by Kino, who leaps out of a bush. As you said, the book is not favored by everyone; I despised it, but the imagery is so strong that the song of the pearl is still audible even after two years of trying to forget it. It's a great inspirer of nightmares and friend of insomnia, but after all, Steinbeck seems to be most vivid when he is most brutal. Too brutal, but society can't remember lessons if not forced. The more one tries to forget, the more real the image is--Steinbeck is trick.